Footage of an orangutan trying to attack a bulldozer as it destroyed its habitat has left viewers in tears.

The latest eye-opening David Attenborough documentary, Climate Change: The Facts, aired on the BBC last night, presenting viewers with the harsh truth of how our actions are harming the planet.

The programme explained how the soaring demand for palm oil, a type of vegetable oil which can be found in a number of everyday products such as shampoo, chocolate and lipstick, was leading to large scale deforestation.

Take a look at how the orangutan fought back:

To meet our demands for the products, huge areas of rainforest are being ripped down and replaced with palm oil plantations.

The heartbreaking footage in the documentary showed the free animal making its way across a fallen tree, surrounded by a ruined landscape, and attempting to hit out at the huge machine, before tumbling to the ground.

Later in the programme, Attenborough explained climate change is the greatest threat our planet has faced in thousands of years.

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He said:

At the current rate of warming we risk a devastating future.

The science is now clear that urgent action is needed. What happens now and in these next few years will profoundly affect the next few thousand years.

We are facing a man-made disaster on a global scale. It may sound frightening but the scientific evidence is that if we have not taken dramatic action within the next decade we could face irreversible damage of the natural world, and the collapse of our societies.

Attenborough continued:

We are running out of time but there is still hope. I believe that if we better understand the threat we face, the more likely it is that we can avoid such a catastrophic future.

Viewers were left shocked and devastated after watching the poor orangutan’s futile fight against the destructive bulldozer, and many took to social media to express their dismay.

One person wrote:

That #orangutan fighting the digger was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen.

In Climate Change: The Facts, Attenborough also warned how climate change could wipe out entire species, including small organisms that hold together the world’s ecosystems, resulting in even more lives being at risk.

Everyone can make changes to help reduce the negative impacts we have on the planet; one simple change would be to purchase products which are palm oil free.

Emily Brown

Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.